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THE RESPONSE 



MINISTERS 



MASSACHUSETTS ASSOCIATION OF THE 
NEW JERUSALEM 



RESOLUTION OF THAT ASSOCIATION REQUESTING THEIR CONSIDER* 
ATION OF WHAT IS USUALLY KNOWN AS 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 



PRINTED DY ORDER OF THE ASSOCIATION. 



BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY GEORGE PHINNEY, 

No. 19 Winter Street. 
18 5 8. 






r. 



. * ■ • 



THE PYTHONISM 

OF THE PRESENT DAY. 



At the meeting of the Massachusetts Association 
of the New Jerusalem which was held in Boston 
on the fifteenth day of April, 1358, the following 
Resolution was adopted : 

"Resolved, — That the Committee of Ministers be requested to 
consider the subject of what is usually known as l Modern Spir- 
itualism/ and to endeavor to learn what the Doctrines of the 
New Church teach in regard to it, and what are the duties of its 
members in relation thereto ; and that they be authorized to pre- 
sent the result of their deliberations to the Association at its next 
meeting, or in print, previous to that time. ?? 

And at the meeting of the same Association at 
East Bridgewater, in October, 1858, the following 
response of the Committee was presented and read, 
and, without opposition, ordered to be printed. 



In compliance with the request, contained in a 
Resolution of this Association adopted at its last meet- 
ing, to consider the subject of what is usually known 
as " Modern Spiritualism," the Committee have care- 
fully considered the subject referred to them, and 
1 



have unanimously agreed to present the following as 
the result of their deliberations. 



TESTIMONY OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES 
RESPECTING IT. 

In the Sacred Scriptures, and also in the writings 
of the Apostles, very many instances may be found, 
in which the persons and things of the spiritual world 
have been seen and heard by men living in this 
world. An angel appeared to Hagar. Three ap- 
peared to Abraham, and two were seen by Lot. An 
angel spake to Abraham from heaven. The Lord 
appeared to Isaac. The angels of God met Jacob 
at Mahanaim. The angel of the Lord appeared 
unto Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of a 
bush. An angel spake to Balaam. An angel spake 
to all the children of Israel at Bochim. An angel of 
the Lord appeared to Gideon, to Manoah and his 
wife, to David ; and one spake to Elijah. The 
Lord opened the eyes of the young man of Elisha, 
who saw the mountain full of horses and chariots of 
fire. The prophets saw very many things in the 
spiritual world. Mary Magdalene and the other 
Mary saw an angel in the sepulchre, and heard him 
speak. An angel was sent to Zacharias in the tem- 
ple, and to Mary espoused to Joseph. An angel 
appeared to the shepherds abiding in the field, and 
spake with them ; and a multitude of the heavenly 
host came suddenly into their view, and their very 
words of glorification and praise were heard. Voices 
were heard from heaven by the disciples and others. 



To the Apostles, after the Lord's ascension, angels 
appeared — to Philip, to Cornelius the centurion, to 
Peter in prison, and to Paul when in danger in the 
ship of Alexandria. Paul also had visions and reve- 
lations, having been "caught up into the third heav- 
en, and there hearing unspeakable words not lawful 
for man to utter. " And the Book called the Apoca- 
lypse, or the Revelation, consists entirely of things 
seen by John in the spiritual world, while he was in 
the spirit, or in a state in which his spiritual senses 
were open. 

And of all these it may be said, that there is no- 
thing in the Word tending to show that they were 
not from the Lord ; and of most of them, that there 
is the strongest evidence that they were from Him. 
And they tvere all unsought. 

But, on the other hand, there is recorded a com- 
munication between Samuel, who had died and was 
in the spiritual world, and Saul the king of Israel in 
this world, through the woman of Endor as a medi- 
um. This intercourse was sought by Saul, and was 
not from the Lord, having been effected by means 
contrary to the statutes given by Him to Moses, as is 
evident from the narration itself. And in the Acts of 
the Apostles a certain Simon is spoken of, who be- 
witched the people of Samaria with sorceries, that is, 
with magic miracles, (which are only the juggleries 
of spirits, or the tricks of jugglers in the spiritual 
world), so that they said, "This man is the great 
power of God," Acts, vm, 10. He offered money to 
the Apostles, to purchase the power of communicating 
the Holy Spirit. There is also mentioned a sorcer- 



er, a false prophet, named Bar-jesus, or Elymas, who 
withstood the Apostles, seeking to turn away the 
deputy from the faith ; but was smitten with blind- 
ness at the word of Paul. And in this book of Acts 
a certain damsel is also mentioned, w 7 ho had "a 
spirit of divination," or, as in the original Greek, " a 
spirit of python," who brought her masters much 
gain by soothsaying, and who was delivered from 
this python by Paul's casting it out. 

Thus, in the Bible, are presented two kinds of 
open communication with the spiritual world, one 
from the Lord, and in conformity with the Divine 
Order, and which is always given unsought; and the 
other contrary to the Divine Order, and produced by 
the unregenerate desires and efforts of spirits and 
men. 

Let it not be understood, however, that all un- 
sought communications are from the Lord. All that 
are from Him are indeed unsought ; but all that are 
unsought are not necessarily from Him. There are 
other distinctions which will be referred to in another 
and more appropriate place. 

But in addition to these recorded instances there 
are specific commands. For in Exodus, xxn, 18, 
we find it written : " Thou shall not suffer a witch to 
live;" or as it may be more properly rendered, 
" Thou shall not cause to live" or, " Thou shall not 
preserve alive" And the Hebrew word rendered 
"witch" means a female sorcerer, or doer of appa- 
rently wonderful works, or user of magical arts. 
And in the Arcana Ccelestia, 9349, it is said that this 



command is not abrogated, but in its external or 
natural sense is in full force, and " ought altogether 
to be observed and done." It is most important, 
therefore, that it should be correctly understood. 
And the meaning is, that a witch, a user of magical 
arts, is not to be made to live, that is, not to be en« 
couraged, supported, or in any degree countenanced 
or favored. Not that their natural life is to be taken 
away, but that they are not to be suffered to live as 
witches; w 7 e are to use all means in conformity with 
divine order, to remove the life of witchcraft, — to 
prevent the desire and the practice of dealing with 
"familiar spirits." Also, in Deut., xvm, 9 — 14, 
we find it written, (we here give a literal translation 
of the passage as it stands in the Latin of the Arcana 
Coelestia, 9188, which is believed to be a more cor- 
rect rendering of the Hebrew than that given in our 
Bibles) : " When thou contest to the land ivhich Jeho- 
vah God is about to give thee, there shall not he found 
in thee one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass 
through the fire, that divineth divinations, and that 
interrogates the hells, or an augurer, or a juggler, or 
an enchanter, or that interrogates a python, or a sooth- 
sayer, or that enquires of the dead : for an abomina- 
tion to Jehovah is every one that doeth these things ; 
and on account of these abominations Jehovah thy God 
expels them before thee. For these nations ivhich thou 
shall possess hearkened unto those that interrogate the 
hells,* and unto diviners , but as for thee, the Lord thy 

♦This particular verse we do not indeed find quoted in the writings of the New 
Church — but the verses above are found, — and we preserve the same rendering 
of M observers of times n in this verse, which Swedenborg has given in verse 10 
Just above. 

1* 



6 

God hath not suffered thee thus to do." Herein are 
forbidden all the forms of magic, or every species of 
magic arts. And within these thus enumerated, are 
included all the practices of modern necromancy or 
pythonism, misnamed " spiritualism." They are 
more particularly and manifestly described by the 
two expressions, "interrogating a python" and "in- 
quiring of the dead" even if they are not included in 
the phrase, " that interrogates the hells" A python 
is that which in our common Bibles is called a 
" familiar spirit" and also in Acts, xvi, 16, " a spirit 
of divination " which Paul cast out. It was a sooth- 
saying demon, or a spirit without divine authority, 
pretending to foretell future events, or making com- 
munications from the spiritual world, and w r as sup- 
posed to be within the person possessed. Thus, 
Levit., xx, 27, it is said, " A man or a woman in 
whom is a familiar spirit, (or a python) , shall surely 
be put to death; they shall stone them with stones; 
their blood shall be upon them" And Saul said to 
the woman of Endor, who had a python or familiar 
spirit, " Divine unto me by the python" The woman 
of Endor was a medium; the python was the 
spirit that spake through her. A python is the spirit 
that manifestly speaks and acts through a person in 
this world who seeks the intercourse, and submits 
himself to his operation. But these practices are 
also, and with equal clearness and exactness, included 
under the terms, " inquiring of the dead" 

In Levit., xix, 31, we find these words: " Regard 
not them that have familiar spirits (pythons), neither 



seek after wizards to be defiled by them; I am the 
Lord your God" In chap, xx, 6, (as found in the 
Latin, A. C, n. 2466,) " And the soul which has 
respect to pythons and to soothsayers, to go a whoring 
after them, I will set my faces against that soul, and I 
will cut him off from the midst of his people." 

In II Kings, xxi, 6, it is written respecting Manasseh, 
king of Judah : " And he made his son to pass through 
the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, 
and dealt vnth familiar spirits (pythons) and wiz- 
ards ; he wrought much ivickedness in tJie sight of the 
Lord, to provoke him to anger." 

In Isaiah, vm, 19, 20, are these : " And when they 
shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar 
spirits (pythons) and unto wizards that peep and 
mutter ; should not a people seek unto their God ? for 
the living to the dead ? To the law and to the testi- 
mony : if they speak not according to this word, it is 
because there is no light in them." It is here taught, 
that when there is any persuasion to seek the inter- 
course of familiar spirits or pythons, the answer 
should be, "Should not a people seek unto their God ? 
Why should the living seek the dead ? " And the 
command is to go to the Word ; for there is the only 
light ; and if they speak not from this, then there is 
no light in them. And in the same prophet, xix, 3 : 
" And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst 
thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof ; and 
they shall seek to the idols and the charmers, and to 
them that have familiar spirits (pythons) and to the 
wizards" And again, xxix, 4 ; " And thou shalt be 



brought down, and shall speak out of the ground; 
and thy speech shall be low out of the dust ; and thy 
voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar spirit 
(python) out of the ground, and thy speech shall 
whisper out of the dust" Here it is declared that 
those whose counsel is to be destroyed seek to idols, 
charmers, familiar spirits (pythons), and wizards. 
And that the voice of those who have familiar spirits 
(or pythons) is out of the ground, and whispers out 
of the dust. 

From the above passages, and also from II Kings, 
ix, 22, and xxm, 24 ; Isaiah, xlvii, 9, 12, 13 ; Micah, 
v, 12 ; Nahum, m, 4 ; Malachi, in, 5, where sooth- 
sayers and sorcerers, witchcrafts and enchantments, 
are denounced ; and also from Rev., xxi, 8, where 
sorcerers are joined with whoremongers, murderers 
and idolaters, and are said to have their part in the 
lake that burneth with fire and brimstone ; and also 
from Rev., xxu, 15, where sorcerers and whore- 
mongers and murderers and idolaters are said to be 
without the Holy City, — it is most evident, that all 
desires and attempts to search into the mysteries of 
the future, — all endeavors curiously to examine into 
and learn the mysteries of another life, otherwise 
than from the Word, and the expositions of it author- 
ized by the Lord Himself, and through the means 
therein pointed out, — all the various forms of necro- 
mancy, pythonism, witchcraft, sorcery, spiritual jug- 
glery and enchantment, are contrary to the spirit of 
the Word, are opposed to the Word, and are there- 
fore forbidden by it, and consequently are to be 
shunned by every one who believes in the Word. 



TESTIMONY OF THE CHURCH RESPECTING IT. 

And the writings of the New Church show us why 

these things are forbidden by the Word : they enable 

us to understand their real nature and quality, to 

see their essential character, their origin, and hence 

to perceive rationally, that from their origin and by 

their tendency they are opposed to the life of the 

Word. For from these writings we learn that, 

" The evil, not only of the Most Ancient Church which was before 
the flood, but also the evil of the Ancient Church which was after 
the flood, also the evil of the Jewish Church, as also again the 
evil of the new Church or that of the Gentiles after the coming 
of the Lord, just so also the evil of the Church of the present day, 
is that they do not believe the Lord or the Word, but themselves 
and their senses : thence there is no faith ; and when no faith, no 
love of the neighbor, thus every false and evil/ 7 A. C, 231. 

Also in A. C, n. 127: 

" That men through things sensual and scientific willed to 
enquire into the mysteries of faith, was not only the cause of the 
fall of the Most Ancient Church, namely of its posterity, of which 
in the following chapter ; but it is also the cause of the fall of 
every church; for thence are not only falsities, but also evils of 
life. 77 

Here we see that that which first caused man to 
fall is the same that keeps him fallen ; that that 
which was the essential evil at first, is the essential 
evil now, and the essential evil always; that the 
serpent which first seduced is that which always 
seduces ; that " the old serpent called the Devil and 
Satan, which seduceth the whole world" is the not 
believing the Lord or the Word, but themselves and 
their senses, — and hence, the disregarding and diso- 
beying the Lord or the Word, and obeying themselves 
and their senses ; that is, doing their own wills and 



10 

indulging the desires and appetites of their senses, 
or gratifying their lusts and cupidities. 

Now it is precisely this, and only this, which ever 
makes men desire and endeavor to obtain knowledge 
of things hidden and secret by means other than 
divinely appointed means. For if they really be- 
lieved the Lord or the Word, they would not seek 
for sensible evidence of the truth of what He has 
revealed to enable them to believe, but they would 
search the Divine Revelations for what they did not 
know; and if they should ever desire more than 
could be found in these Revelations, they would seek 
it of the Lord Himself, through His divinely appoint- 
ed means ; that is, through a preparation by regener- 
ation to receive new light. For the Divine Law is, 
6k If any man ivill do His will, he shall know of (he 
doctrine" The serpent of old, that is, that part of 
the mind which is in immediate connexion with the 
senses of the body, — that part which is willing to 
believe only what is seen, or heard, or felt, — only 
what is perceived by the senses, — the lowest and 
most external part, where man appears to be some- 
thing of himself, or where is the very kingdom of 
self, — persuaded them to eat of the tree of knowledge 
of good and evil, that is, to try the things forbidden, 
to do them, and then judge for themselves whether 
they were hurtful, or know from themselves, from 
sensible experience, whether they were good or evil. 
And it is the same serpent which makes men now, 
before they are willing to believe, to desire first to 
see and hear for themselves whether there is another 



11 

world, whether those who have lived here and have 
died are really Jiving there, and whether there really 
is any heaven and any hell. It is the same unbelief in 
the Lord or the Word, which is the inmost and 
secret cause of all desires to know the future, and of 
all efforts curiously to look into the arcana of the 
spiritual world by an external process, before Ave are 
prepared by the internal process of regeneration to 
receive that knowledge. 

From the writings, too, of the Church we learn, 
that the fables which constitute the heathen mythol- 
ogy had their origin in the science of corresponden- 
ces in the Ancient Church, and were traditions from 
that Church of important truths expressed in corres- 
ponding natural images. And according to this 
mythology, the Python was an immense serpent, 
sprung from the stagnant turbid waters or foul 
mud after Deucalion's deluge festering under the 
rays of a burning sun, the terror of men, but 
whom their god Apollo alone was able, with much 
difficulty, to destroy. Hence the priestess, who 
uttered the oracles in the temple of Apollo at Del- 
phi, having become convulsively agitated by sitting 
over the opening of a subterraneous cavity and 
breathing the mephitic air, and in this state of abnor- 
mal excitement from beneath declaring things to 
come, was called Pythia^ or a Pythoness. And 
hence the demon, or familiar spirit, who spake 
through her, and those that spake through others 
w T ho have been possessed with familiar spirits, were 
called pythons ; and the necromantic practices of 



12 

those thus possessed, or who were their mediums, 
are called pythonism. Who cannot, in this mytho- 
logical tradition, see the serpent, engendered by the 
very lowest things of humanity, which destroyed the 
Ancient Church, and which is the same evil that 
destroys every church, whether individual or collect- 
ive, u that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan] 
which deceiveth the whole ivorld" whose head the 
Lord alone is able to tread upon ; that is, whom the 
Lord alone is able to subdue ? Who cannot see in this 
Python that unbelief in the Lord or the Word, and 
belief in themselves and their senses,^ which leads 
men to disregard divine revelation, and to seek for 
sensual evidence and outward demonstrations of eter- 
nal things, and is the cause of all efforts to climb up 
into the wisdom and happiness of heaven by some 
other way, instead of entering by the true door ? 

Tt is entirely allowable, however, to confirm the 
things of faith by the evidence of rational, scientific, 
and sensual things ; and there may be much good use 
in doing so. But it is never allowable to seek this 
evidence that we may know whether to believe the 
things revealed or not. After the heart believes, — 
when we are disposed to receive as truth what the 
Lord declares as such, — then may we most usefully 
find confirmations of our faith in things that are with- 
out : but we are never to look without, to proofs to 
our senses, that we may be convinced by them of 
the truth of heavenly things, and from them decide 
what we are to believe. This distinction is vital, — 

* See Extracts on page 9. 



13 

the distinction between what is affirmative and what 
is negative ; between wisdom and madness ; be- 
tween heaven and hell ; between the acknowledge- 
ment of the Lord and the saying in heart " There 
is no God : " a distinction which our limits will 
not permit to be explained further, but which may- 
be seen fully presented in the writings of the New 
Church. See Ap. Ex., 739; A. C, 2568, 2588, 
4760, 6479. 

In the Apocalypse Explained, n. 1155, we find : 

11 A sixth law of the Divine Providence is, that man should not 
be reformed by external mediums, but by internal mediums ; by 
external mediums means by miracles and visions, also by fears 
and punishments; — by internal mediums means by truths and 
goods from the Word and from the doctrine of the church, and 
by looking to the Lord : for these mediums enter by an internal 
way, and cast out the evils and falses which reside within: but 
external mediums enter by an external way, and do not cast 
out evils and falses, but shut them in. Nevertheless, man is 
further reformed by external mediums, provided he has been 
before reformed by internal mediums. ;; * * * * * "If 
man could be reformed by miracles and visions, all would be 
reformed in the universal globe." 

And after speaking of the manner in which man is 

brought out from infernal freedom into heavenly 

freedom, it is said : 

" This is the way of man ? s reformation, but this way is closed 
by miracles and visions.' 7 * * * * "This way of reform- 
ation is also closed by miracles and visions, for they persuade 
and compel belief, and thus send the thoughts as it were bound 
into a prison.' 7 * * * "Nevertheless, man, whilst he thinks 
only superficially, may believe that miracles and visions, although 
they persuade, do not take away the liberty of thinking : but 
the real case is this; with the non-reformed they take away 
liberty, but with the reformed they do not take it away ; for with 
the latter they do not shut evils in, but with the former they do.'* 7 

Here it is distinctly said that man cannot be re- 
formed by miracles and visions, because they are 
2 



14 

external means, and operate in an external way, and 
do not cast out evils and falses, but shut them in. 
They do not produce any real belief, — any belief that 
is saving or lasting: they can never produce faith. 
But if man has been reformed by internal means, 
then he may be further reformed by external. If he 
has received faith by an internal process, he may 
have it perfected and confirmed by these external 
means. With those who are not reformed, visions 
and perceptible intercourse with the spiritual world 
take away freedom, — are compulsory in their effects, 
— but with those who have been reformed by internal 
means, they do not destroy freedom. That inter- 
course, however, which will not injure those who are 
reformed, will be spoken of more particularly below. 
In n. 1156, of the same work : 

u All they who wish for miracles and visions are like the sons 
of Israel, who, when they had seen so many prodigies in Egypt, 
at the Red Sea, and on mount Sinai, still within a month, 
receded from the worship of Jehovah, and worshipped a golden 
calf. They are also like the rich man in hell, who said to Abra- 
ham, that his brethren would repent if one from the dead were 
sent to them ; to whom Abraham replied, l They have Moses 
and the prophets, let them hear them • if they hear not Moses and 
the -prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rose from the 
dead/ And they are like Thomas, who said that he would not be- 
lieve, unless he saw : to whom the Lord said, • Blessed are they 
who believe and do not see? They who believe and do not see. 
are they who do not desire signs, but truths from the Word : 
the latter are internal men, and become spiritual ; but the former 
are external, and remain sensual : ;; # # # # " for he who 
does not believe in consequence of the miracles related in the 
Word, how shall he believe in consequence of miracles which 
have no place in the Word?" 

Here it is distinctly declared, that visions and sen- 
sible evidence of the things of another world never 
produce faith. 



15 

In n. 1177 of the same, we find : 

u That the Lord teaches no one immediately, but mediately 
by those things appertaining to man which are from the hearing 
and sight, follows from what has been said above; to which must 
be added, that immediate revelation is not given, except what 
has been given in the Word ) which revelation, as delivered by 
the prophets and evangelists, and in the historical parts of the 
Word, is such that every one may be taught according to the 
affections of his love and the consequent thoughts of his under- 
standing. ?? 

And again : 

u Hence it is evident that the Lord teaches the man of the 
church mediately from the Word, according to the love of his will 
which he has acquired by life, and according to the light of his 
understanding which he has thence acquired by knowledge ; and 
that it cannot be otherwise, because this is the divine order of 
influx. This now is the reason why the Christian Religion is 
divided into churches, and within those churches into heresies, ?? 
&c., &c. 

That is, that the Lord does never teach man direct- 
ly, or in such a way as that he will be compelled to 
understand the divine truth as it is, and thus be com- 
pelled to believe it. 

In n. 1182, 1183, of the same work : 

" Something shall now be said concerning the discourse of spirits 
with man. It is believed by many that man may be taught of the 
Lord, by spirits speaking with him ; but those who believe this, 
and are willing to believe it, do not know that it is connected 
with danger to their souls. Man, so long as he lives in the 
world, is in the midst of spirits as to his spirit; and yet spirits do 
not know that they are with man, nor does man know that he is 
with spirits : the reason is, because they are conjoined as to affec- 
tions of the will immediately, and as to thoughts of the under- 
standing mediately j for man thinks naturally, but spirits think 
spiritually ; and natural and spiritual thought do not otherwise 
make one than by correspondences : a union by correspondences 
causes that one does not know any thing concerning the other. 
But as soon as spirits begin to speak with man, they come out of 
their spiritual state into the natural state of man; and in this case 
they know that they are with man, and conjoin themselves with 
the thoughts of his affection, and from those thoughts speak with 



16 

him : they cannot enter into any thing else ; for similar affection 
and consequent thought conjoins all, and dissimilar separates. 
It is owing to this circumstance, that the speaking spirit is in 
the same principles with the man to whom he speaks , whether they 
be true or false ; and likewise that he excites them, and by his 
affection conjoined to the man's affection strongly confirms them: 
hence it is manifest that none other than similar spirits speak with 
man, or manifestly operate upon him; for manifest operation 
coincides with speech : hence it is that no other than enthusiastic 
spirits speak with enthusiasts j also, that no other than Quaker 
spirits operate upon Quakers, and Moravian spirits upon Moravi- 
ans : the case would be similar with Arians, with Socinians, 
and with other heretics. All spirits speaking with man are no other 
than such as have been in the world, and were then of such a 
quality : that this is the case has been given me to know by 
repeated experience. And what is ridiculous, when man believes 
that the Holy Spirit speaks with him, or operates upon him, the 
spirit also believes that he is the Holy Spirit : this is common 
with enthusiastic spirits. From this is manifest the danger in 
which the man is who speaks with spirits, or who manifestly feels 
their operation. Man knows not of what quality his affection is, 
whether it is good or evil, and with w T hat others it is conjoined ; 
and if he is in the pride of his own intelligence, the spirit favors 
every thought which is from that pride : in like manner, if there 
is in any one a favor of particular principles which has been 
inflamed from a certain fire, which is the case with those who are 
not in truths from genuine affection ; when the spirit from similar 
affection favors the thoughts or principles of the man, then one 
leads the other as a blind man leads a blind man, until both fall 
into the pit. The Pythonists of old time were of this quality, 
and also the magi in Egypt and in Babylon ; who, on account of 
their speaking with spirits, and of the operation of spirits upon 
them manifestly perceived, were called wise. But by this the 
worship of God was turned into the worship of demons, and 
the Church perished : wherefore such intercourse was forbidden 
the children of Israel under the penalty of death. 7 ' 

'"The case is otherwise with those whom the Lord leads; and 
He leads those who love truths, and will them from Him. All 
such are enlightened when they read the Word, for there the 
Lord is ; and He speaks with every one according to his compre- 
hension. If these hear speech from spirits, which also sometimes 
happens, they are not taught, but are led, and this so providently, 
that man is still left to himself; since, as was before said, every 
man is led of the Lord by affections, and thinks from them as 
from himself in freedom : if this was not the case man would not 
be capable of being reformed, nor could he be enlightened. But 



17 

men are enlightened variously, ever}' one according to the quality 
of his affection, and his intelligence thence : those who are in the 
spiritual affection of truth are elevated into the light of heaven, 
even so as to perceive the enlightenment. It has been given to me 
to see it, and from it to perceive distinctly what comes from the 
Lord, and what from angels; what is from the Lord, this is 
written, and what is from the angels is not written. ;; 

Here it is not only plainly said that the speaking 
with spirits is attended with danger to the souls of 
those who engage in it, but some of the reasons are 
given why it is dangerous. One of these reasons is, 
that when a spirit speaks with man he comes out of 
his own spiritual state, or state as a spirit, into the 
natural state of the man who is spoken with, and 
conjoins himself with the thoughts of the man, and is 
therefore in the very same principles that the man 
himself is in, whether they be true or false ; that he 
excites them, and strongly confirms them, so that the 
man will not be willing to give them up. Indeed it 
is from this very circumstance of their favoring the 
man's views, and making him feel strong in them, 
and confident that they are right views, that the man 
loves to have the intercourse. For every unregen- 
erate man, being in the love of self, loves his own 
opinions, and delights to have them appear clearly 
right, or to have them confirmed. And he who 
seeks this intercourse becomes therefore by means of 
it more and more confirmed in his own views, and 
consequently in this view among the rest, viz., that this 
intercourse is good, and that the speaking spirit is 
good, — or at least that the intercourse is not danger- 
ous ; when yet it may be performing even then the 
work of injury, if not of destruction, to the soul. 
2# 



18 

Every one who understands the reasons given in this 

passage will feel their power. He also says that he 

has perceived distinctly what came from the Lord to 

him, and what from the angels ; and that he has 

written only what came from the Lord : what came 

from angels is not written. 

In Heaven and Hell, n. 249 : 

" But to speak with spirits at this day is seldom given, since it is 
dangerous ; for then the spirits know that they are with man ; which 
otherwise they do not know : and evil spirits are such that they 
hold man in deadly hatred, and desire nothing more than to 
destroy him, soul and body." 

But yet by flattering, that is, by favoring and con- 
firming the man's loves and opinions, they appear to 
him as near friends ; when yet it is in this very way 
that they are performing the work of destruction to 
his soul : not only preventing the work or process of 
regeneration from going on in him, but, by fixing and 
confirming his natural state, rendering this work 
more and more difficult to be performed. 

In the Arcana Coelestia, n. 69, it is said : 

li Man was so created by the Lord, that during his life in the 
body he might be able to speak with spirits and angels, as was 
also actually the case in the most ancient times ; for he is one with 
them, because he is a spirit clothed with a body : but because in 
process of time men so immersed themselves in corporeal and 
worldly things that they cared for almost nothing else, therefore 
the way was shut," &c. 

In n. 784 of the same : 

" The reason why heaven was shut is a most profound arcanum 
(arcanissima est) ; as also why at this day it is so shut, that man 
does not even know that there are spirits, still less that there are 
angels, with him; and that he thinks himself to be altogether alone, 
when he is without companions in the world, and when he thinks 
with himself: when yet he is continually in fellowship with spirits, 
who so well observe and perceive what man thinks, and what he 



19 

intends and devises, as perfectly and openly as if it stood out to 
view before all in the world : of this man is entirely ignorant, and 
thus heaven is shut to him ■ when yet it is most true : the reason 
is. unless heaven were thus shut with him ; when he is in no faith, 
less in the truth of faith, and still less in charity, that it would be 
most dangerous to him; this also is signified, by that Jehovah 
God cast out the man, and made Cherubs to dwell at the garden 
of Eden on the east, and the flame of a sword turning itself to 
guard the way of the tree of lives. 77 

In the Arcana Coslestia, n. 1880 : 

" Man was so created, that, during his life on earth among 
men, he might at the same time also live in heaven among angels : 
and during his life in heaven among angels, he might at the same 
time also live on earth among men ; so that heaven and earth 
might be together, and might form a one ; men knowing what is 
in heaven, and angels what is in the world ; and that when men 
departed this life, they might pass thus from the Lord's kingdom 
on earth into the Lord's kingdom in the heavens; not as into 
another, but as into the same; having been in it also during their 
life in the body. But as man became so corporeal, he closed 
heaven against himself. 77 

Here again it is said, that it is most dangerous for 
any one that is not regenerate, that is, not in genu- 
ine living faith, to have this open communication ; 
and because of the danger, the intercourse which 
was formerly enjoyed, and which man was created 
to enjoy, ceased and was forbidden. 

In the Arcana Coelestia, n. 5363, there are men- 
tioned the attempts of evil spirits to destroy man, 
both soul and body ; the actual attempts upon him 
who was the divinely authorized scribe of the New 
Church are related from his own experience ; at the 
conclusion of which are these words : 

" Hence it may be manifest, how dangerous it is for man to be 
in living consort with spirits, unless he be in the good of faith. 77 
See also 7290, 9438, 10751. 

In the work " Concerning the Divine Providence," 



20 

n. 130 to 133, this proposition is stated and illus- 
trated, " That no one is reformed by visions and 
signs, because they force," that is, take away human 
freedom. Also in n. 134 — 135, the following prop- 
osition is presented, and rendered plain to the reason 
or intellectual sight : viz., " That no one is reformed 
by visions and by speaking with the dead, because 
they force." And while illustrating this proposition 
these words occur : 

11 Hence it is evident, that no one can be reformed by any 
other visions than those which are in the Word." 

And also these : 

" I have had discourse with spirits and with angels now for 
several years, and no spirit has dared, nor any angel been willing, 
to tell me any thing much less to instruct me concerning any 
things in the Word, or concerning any doctrinal from the Word ) 
but the Lord alone has taught me, who was revealed to me, and 
afterwards continually did and does appear before my eyes as a 
Sun in which He is, as He appears to the angels, and enlight- 
ened me. ;; 

Those who receive the doctrines of the New 
Church are here informed, that angels are not will- 
ing and spirits do not dare, to teach men respecting 
any thing in the Word, or respecting any doctrinal 
derived from the Word ; and that men are never 
reformed by speaking with the dead, nor by any 
other visions than those which are in the Word. 
This is taught also in the Word Itself, as where it is 
said in Luke, "If they hear not Moses and the 
Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one 
rose from the dead" It is therefore plain that no 
instruction in spiritual truths can be obtained in this 
way, neither can any one be reformed by these 
means. 



21 

And in the True Christian Religion, n. 779, he who 
was commissioned to make known to men the inter- 
nal sense of the Word, and the doctrines of the New 
Jerusalem, says : 

" From the first day of my call to this office. I have never 
received any thing appertaining to the doctrines of that church 
from any angel, but from the Lord alone while I was reading the 
Word. To the end that the Lord might be constantly present, 
He revealed to me the spiritual sense of His Word, in which sense 
Divine Truth is in its light, and in this light He is continually 
present/ 7 

And in his own preface to the Apocalypse Re- 
vealed, he says : 

" Any one may see, that the Apocalypse could by no means 
be explained, except by the Lord alone; for all the single 
words in it contain arcana which could never be understood with- 
out particular illumination, and thus revelation ; wherefore it has 
pleased the Lord to open to me the sight of my spirit, and to teach 
me. Do not therefore believe that I have taken any thing there- 
in from myself, nor from any angel, but from the Lord alone. 
Moreover, the Lord said through an angel to John, c Seal not up 
the words of the prophecy of this Book,' Chap, xn, 10; by which 
is meant, that they were to be manifested.^ 

In the Arcana Coelestia, n. 10290, are these words : 

11 The reason why these things are signified is, because the Lord 
speaks with the man of the church no otherwise than by the 
Word ; for on such occasion He enlightens man so as to enable 
him to see the truth, and He also gives perception that man may 
perceive that it is so. ;? 

And in n. 10355 : 

"From these considerations it may be manifest in what man- 
ner revelations have succeeded from the most ancient ages to the 
present ; and that at this day revelation is only given by the 
Word." 7 

And in n. 10375 : 

u That it is the Word by which the Lord flows in with man, 
speaks with him, and is conjoined, see n. 1775, 2310, 2899, 
3476, 3735, 3982, 4217, 9212, 9216, 9357, 9380, 9386, 9400, 

'~1, "■ 



29 

In the Apocalypse Explained, n. 1089, at the end: 

'•'In fine, he who loves truth because it is truth, may, as it were, 
interrogate the Lord in matters of faith which are doubtful, and 
receive answers from Him, but not elsewhere than in the Word; 
and this by reason that the Lord is the Word." 

Also in n. 1175 of the same we find : 

" Hence now it is that the Lord does not teach man immed- 
iately, but mediately by the Word, by doctrine and preaching 
from the Word, by discourse and conversation; for from these 
things man thinks freely as of himself. 77 

See also n. 1177, quoted above, where similar 
things are said. 

We are here told that the Lord does not directly 
or immediately teach man by speaking to him or 
otherwise ; but that He teaches through the Word 
alone, and doctrine and preaching from the Word, 
also discourse and conversation respecting it : and 
that every single doctrine, and every thing appertain- 
ing to doctrine, of the New Church, and every thing 
of the internal sense of the Word, was revealed to 
Swedenborg during the reading of the Word, and 
not one through the speech, or other mode of com- 
munication, of any spirit or angel. 

In the writings of the Church, too, we are taught 
respecting the magical practices in the other world, 
and also in this world. 

In the Apocalypse Explained, n. 590, it is said : 

"That sorceries in the spiritual sense signify perversions of 
good, may appear from this consideration, that they are men- 
tioned conjointly with fornications ; and fornications signify the 
falsifications of truth : and in the Word where truth is treated 
of, good is also treated of, because of the divine celestial mar- 
riage in every part thereof. # # ; -###■' In ancient times 
various kinds of infernal arts, called magic, were in use, of which 
some are recounted in the Word, (as in Deut. xvin, 9, 10, 11); 



23 

amongst them -were also enchantments, -whereby they induced 
affections and pleasures which another could not resist: this was 
effected by sounds and low voices, which they either produced or 
muttered, and which by analogous correspondences had commun- 
ication with the will of another, and excited his affection, and 
fascinated him to will, think, and act in a certain manner. Such 
enchantments the prophets were skilled in, and also used ; by 
which they excited good affections, hearing and obedience ; and 
these enchantments are mentioned in a good sense in the Word, in 
Isaiah, in, 1, 2, 3, 20; xxvi, 16 ; in Jer. vin, 17; and in David, 
Psalm lviii, 4, 5. But inasmuch as by such speeches and mut- 
terings, evil affections were excited by the evil, and thus enchant- 
ments were made magical, therefore they are also recounted 
among the magical arts, and severely prohibited, as, Deut., xviu, 
9, 10, 11 ; Isaiah, xlvii, 9, 12; Rev., xvni, 23, xxn, 15. [Con- 
cerning Balaam, concerning Jezebel.] ' } 

Here it is expressly said, that, although they were 
used by the prophets to excite good affections, still, 
on account of the abuse, they were severely prohib- 
ited; and reference is made at the close of this 
passage by Swedenborg himself in his manuscript, 
as is evident from the Latin edition of this work, to 
Balaam and Jezebel, who made use of them; the 
former of whom was slain by the command of the 
Lord, and of the latter of whom, the " Lord spake 
saying', The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of 
Jezreel" I Kings, xxi, 23. 

In the Arcana Coslestia, n. 5223, we find this : 

u In Egypt the scientifics of that church (the ancient represent- 
ative church), were principally cultivated^ which related to corres- 
pondences, representatives, and significatives : by which scien- 
tifics were explained the things which were written in the books 
of the church, and which were performed in their holy worship : JJ 
— " the chief persons among those who were skilled in those scien- 
tifics, and taught them, were called magi. ;? — "The magi of that 
time were acquainted with such things as are of the spiritual 
world, which they learned from the correspondences and repre- 
sentatives of the church ; wherefore also, many of them had com- 
munication with spirits, and hence learned illusory (deceptive) 



24 

arts, -whereby they wrought magical miracles : 77 — "For magic was 
nothing else but perversion, and a perverse application of such 
things as are of order in the spiritual world; thence magic 
descends. ?7 

In n. 7296, of the same : 

u They who in the life of the body have practiced cunning, 
and have contrived various arts of defrauding others, and at 
length, in consequence of success, have attributed all to their own 
proper prudence, they in the other life learn things magical, 
which are nothing else but abuses of Divine order, especially of 
correspondences : for it is according to Divine order that all and 
singular things correspond ; as for example, the hands, the arms, 
the shoulders correspond to power, and thence also a staff : there- 
fore they form to themselves staffs, and also representatively set 
the shoulders, the arms, and the hands, and thereby exercise 
magical power; so in a thousand and a thousand other instances. 77 

In n. 7337 : 

" Divine miracles proceed from Divine Truth, and go forward 
according to order; the effects in ultimates are miracles when it 
pleases the Lord that they should be presented in that form : 
hence it is that all Divine miracles represent states of the Lord's 
kingdom in the heavens, and of the Lord's kingdom on earth, or 
of the Church; 77 # # # a but magical miracles involve 
nothing at all; 77 * * " and they appear in the external form 
like to Divine miracles : the reason why they appear like them is, 
because they flow from order; and order appears alike in the ulti- 
mates where miracles are presented : as for example; the Divine 
Truth proceeding from the Lord has in it all power ; hence it is, 
that there is also power in truths in the ultimates of order ; there- 
fore the evil acquire to themselves power by truths, and gain 
dominion over others. To take another example also; it is 
according to order that states of affection and thought cause the 
idea of place and distance in the other life, and that the inhabit- 
ants appear to be so far distant from each other, as they are in a 
diverse state; this law of order is from the Divine (Being), that 
all who are in the Grand Man may be distinct from each other : 
magicians in the other life abuse this law or principle of order; 
for they induce in others changes of state, and thereby translate 
them at one time aloft, at another time into the deep, and also 
cast them together into societies, that they may serve them for 
subjects: so in innumerable other instances. 77 

See also 9188, 10286, and Ap. Ex., 1191. 



25 

In these passages we are taught, that all things 
done by the Lord, even His miracles, are represen- 
tations of states of the Lord's kingdom ; thus that 
they are but outward presentations of internal real- 
ities, — of the movements of divine order : though 
the outward forms are miracles, yet what is within 
them is but the orderly operation of the divine wis- 
dom and mercy : but that all things magical have no 
internal realities, but are only abuses of divine order 
as to its externals ; that is, advantage is taken of 
certain unalterable principles of order, and they are 
perverted or forced to subserve selfish purposes which 
they were not made to subserve ; — or in other words, 
the laws of divine order which have been established 
to bring to pass the divine purposes are seized upon 
and used by man to bring to pass his purposes. 
Thus, for instance, it is a law of divine order that 
" where two or three are gathered together in His 
name, there He is in the midst of them;" His life flows 
in ; He is present ; and they are elevated and 
strengthened : for they have formed an ultimate ac- 
cording to His order, to receive Him, — to receive life 
from Him more abundantly. Now it is possible for 
men or spirits to come together in their own name, 
• — to form assemblies or circles to bring to pass things 
which they desire. If they do thus, life of the same 
quality with these desires will flow in, and they will 
be strengthened and confirmed in those desires : for 
by coming together in that spirit, and with that end 
in view, they have formed an ultimate which can 
receive such life more abundantly. So is it of di- 
3 



26 

vine order that the hands of a man are the ultimates 
of his power, — that, is, that they are those forms of 
the body into which his life can flow, and be in the 
fullness of its ability ; into which the powers of his 
mind, his skill and tact, can be concentrated and 
exist in their strength and fullness of action. Now, 
if the hands are used or applied in certain ways, 
mesmeric power is exerted ; and if several meet and 
arrange themselves in a certain form, and place their 
hands in certain positions together, and unite in 
certain movements or manipulations, their powers 
will be united ; the spheres of their life, their active 
desires, will flow together, come down into their 
power, and produce effects, — and the quality of what 
is done, or of these effects, will be the same as that 
of the life, or the desires, which produced them. If 
these desires are contrary to the commands of the 
Word, and opposed to its spirit and life, then are the 
movements magical in their nature. 

PERSONAL TESTIMONY OF EMANUEL SWEDEN- 
BORG. 

The extracts thus far given are from those expos- 
itions or explanations of the Word, which have been 
made by divine authority, and published by the di- 
vine appointment, and which, therefore, contain all the 
doctrines and instructions of the Church ; as also 
from the work called " The Apocalypse Explained,'' 
which was not entirely finished, and was therefore 
not published, during the life in this world of him 
that wrote it. 



27 

But it seems proper here to introduce the testi- 
mony of Swedenborg himself, as a man, — the per- 
sonal testimony of him who was the divinely chosen 
medium for the descent of the New Church to men 
on earth : because no man has ever had that variety 
and fullness of experience, that absolute knowledge 
and distinctness of perception by all the senses, of 
the things of the spiritual world, nor that deep and 
clear understanding of all that w r as thus known and 
perceived ; for to him, during a period of nearly 
thirty years, the things of that world were as mani- 
fest as the things of this world are to men ; and 
from his most thorough education and preparation 
under the divine auspices, he was, above all others, 
able rightly to appreciate as well as intellectually to 
view the things thus presented to him. 

In a private journal which he kept of his expe- 
rience in that world, called his " Spiritual Diary," 
are found the following : 

"That spirits tell lies, and narrate things that are very fictitious. 
— When spirits begin to speak with a man, he must beware that 
he believe nothing that they say. For nearly every thing they 
say is fabricated by them, and they lie : for if they are permitted 
to narrate any thing, as what heaven is. and how things in the 
heavens are to be understood, they would tell so many lies, that 
a man would be astonished. This they would do with solemn 
affirmation. Wherefore I have never been permitted to place 
any faith in those things which spirits have narrated. They are 
desirous of fabricating things ; and whenever there is any subject 
of. conversation, they think they know it, and they express their 
opinion about it variously, one after another, entirely as if they 
knew • and if a man then listens and believes, then they insist, 
and in different ways deceive and seduce him ; for instance, if 
they are permitted to speak about future things, or about things 
in the universal heaven that are unknown, or about all things 
which a man desires to know; yet all things which they say, 
whilst they speak from themselves, are nothing but lies : where- 



28 

fore men must beware, and not believe them. It is on this 
account that the state of speaking with spirits on this earth is 
most perilous, unless the man be in a true faith. They induce so 
strong a persuasion that it is the Lord Himself who speaks and 
who commands, that a man cannot but believe and obey them.'* ? 
(Spiritual Diary, 1622.) 

" Concerning the communication of Spirits with Man. — As has 
been said and shown, spirits, who are the souls of those who have 
died as to the body, when they are with man, and are present 
behind him. think that they are altogether men : and if it should 
be permitted them, it would be possible, through the man who 
speaks with them, but not with others, for them to be altogether 
in the life of the world; and indeed so manifestly, that they 
would be able through another man to communicate their thoughts 
by words, yea, by letters ; for sometimes, indeed quite often, they 
have directed my hand, while writing, altogether as their own ; 
so that they supposed that themselves were writing ; which is so 
true that I can attest it : and indeed, if it were permitted, they 
w r ould be able to write in their own style, which also I know by 
a very little of experience ; but this is not permitted. ;J (Spiritual 
Diary. 557.) 

" That some are such in the other life, that they act under the 
personages (or characters), of others, not under their own. — 2408. 
There was a certain one with me, who thought and spoke only 
under others ; that is to say, he perpetually represented others, 
whom he happened to know : thus he concealed his own person- 
age [or character]. Such are easily discerned, and are oppres- 
sive : they derive it also from the life of the body, that they always 
hold up before them others who think and speak thus, in order 
that they may persuade : some also, that they may the better plot 
deceits. ;; 

See also n. 2659, where he speaks of the eager 

desire of spirits to entirely rule man, both interiors 

and exteriors, especially his body. 

"Why Spirits do not manifest themselves before men, and in- 
struct men concerning the existence and quality of spirits. — There 
are very many reasons, which are in the secret and sanctuary of 
the Lord, why such things should not exist ; it is permitted to 
mention only, that they cannot be manifested to a man who is 
not in the knowledges of a true faith ; because thus, [that is by 
being in these knowledges], the Lord is able to be present, and 
to guard with especial care, lest the spirits, because they are 
flitting about in bands and troops, and desire nothing else than to 
pervert man, yea, to kill him, should do injury to the man as to 
body and soul ; for when it is allowed them to manifest themselves, 



29 

then they also operate to manifest sensation into (upon) the ideas 
and will of man. It is otherwise with those who are in the 
knowledges of a true faith : then the Lord guards with especial 
care, lest such things be brought upon man. Besides, to present 
spirits and souls of the dead to the eyes of man. and thus to urge 
him to believe , this also is repugnant to the wisdom of the Lord, 
who does not break man, but bends him.' ; (Spiritual Diary, 
2393.) 

See also 5151, of the same, where he shows why 
there is not, and should not be, open communication 
with the spiritual world for the inhabitants of our 
earth, as for those of other earths. 

In n. 1776, Spiritual Diary, he says, that spirits 
11 were persuaded concerning things of which they 
could not possibly have any knowledge ;" " that they 
judge from the persuasion of the man ;" that they 
thought that the knowledges in his (Swedenborg's) 
memory were their own ; that if he (Swedenborg) 
should demonstrate any thing falsely, they would be 
persuaded of it; " for in things particular they are 
not able of themselves to judge." 

"That the things which I learned in Representations, Visions, 
and from Discourses with Spirits and Angels, are from the Lord 
alone. — Whenever there was any representation, vision, and dis- 
course, I was kept interiorly and most interiorly in reflection upon 
it. as to what thence was useful and good, thus what I might 
learn therefrom ; which reflection was not thus attended to by 
those who were presenting the representations and visions, and 
who were speaking ; yea, sometimes they were indignant when 
they perceived that I was reflecting. Thus have I been in- 
structed : consequently by no spirit, nor by any angel : but by the 
Lord alone, from whom is all truth and good ; yea, when they 
wished to instruct me concerning various things, there was scarcely 
any thing but what was false : wherefore I was prohibited from 
believing any thing that they spake : nor was I permitted to infer 
any such thing as was proper to them. Besides, when they 
wished to persuade me, I perceived an interior or inmost per- 
suasion that the thing was such, and not as they wished ; which 
also they wondered at : the perception was manifest, but cannot 
3* 



30 

be easily described to the apprehension of men." (Spiritual 
Diary, 1647). 

" That spirits speaking are scarce at all to be believed. — Nothing 
is more familiar to spirits who are speaking, than to say that a 
thing is so or so; for they think that they know every thing, and 
indeed solemnly assert that it is so, when yet it is not so. From 
experiments made several times, it may be evident of what qual- 
ity they are, and how they are to be believed : when it is asked 
[of them] whether they know how this or that is, then one after 
another says that it is so, one differently from another : even if 
there were a hundred, one would say differently from another; 
and indeed for the time with confidence, as if it were so, when 
yet it is not so. As soon as they notice any thing which they do 
not know, they immediately say that it is so : besides very many 
other proofs that they speak as if they knew, when yet they do 
not know." (Spiritual Diary , 1902). 

li That spirits may represent another person ; and the spirit, as 
also he who was known to the spirit, cannot know otherwise than 
that he was the same. — This has many times been shown to me, 
that the spirits speaking with me did not know otherwise than that 
they were the men who were the subject of thought ; and neither 
did other spirits know otherwise : as yesterday and to-day, some 
one known to me in life [was represented by one] who was so like 
him, in all things whicn belonged to him, so far as they were 
known to me, that nothing was more like; wherefore let those 
who speak with spirits beware lest they be deceived, when they 
say that they are those whom they knew, and that they are dead." 

"For there are genera and species of spirits of a like faculty; 
and when similar things are called up in the memory of man, and 
are thus represented to them, they think that they are the same 
persons : then all the things are called forth from the memory 
which represent those persons; both the words, the speech, the 
tone, the gesture, and other things : besides that they are induced 
to think thus when other spirits inspire them ; for then they are 
in the fantasv of those, and think that they are the same." 
(Spiritual Diary, 2860, 2861). 

1 i Spirits can assume the appearance of the person whom a man 
adores or venerates, and say that they are the person himself; 
because under the person of such, they desire to be adored or 
venerated themselves. ;; (Spiritual Diary, 4, Index). 

u That spirits who are of the same genus and species can be in- 
duced to believe that they are the same, although they are not. — On 
several occasions it has been shown me by experience, that spirits 
have been induced to believe, that they were the persons con- 
cerning whom I have been able to have some knowledge of their 
life and character ; and from that knowledge they induced other 



31 

spirits to believe that they were the same : they spoke in a like 
manner as they, they had like dispositions, and many things like ; 
so that from the knowledge with me they could not believe other- 
wise than that they were the same persons, although those were 
living whom they were induced to believe themselves to be; 
yea, they acted out their person so like [them], that, compared 
with the knowledge of it that was with me, they differed none; 
for they are their images, because of a like genus and species, as 
to the image of it in the idea of man. Such they were with me; 
and they spoke with me, and willed to persuade me, because they 
had been persuaded that they were the same persons ; but because 
I have learned that other persons could be so counterfeited with 
such close resemblance, I was not induced to believe. 

" Wherefore let those, to whom it is given to speak with spirits, 
take heed to themselves, lest they should be induced to believe 
that they are those whom they declare themselves to be, and 
should thus persuade them that those are dead, as they are wont 
to say, although they are alive : for those who in genus and in 
species are alike as to mind and manners, bear themselves in like 
manner, with all similitude taken from the knowledge of the man 
with whom they are ; which may be still further evident from this 
circumstance, that such spirits in general are associated with those 
who are like him, and when with him, they do not know other- 
wise than that they are the same."" — (Spiritual Diary , 2686, 2687). 

In the " Adversaria," or notes upon the historical 
Books of the Old Testament, under the xxvm Chap, 
of I. Samuel, are these : 

" But it is to be observed, that Samuel was never raised from 
the dead by the python ; but that this was only a fallacy : another 
was raised who represented Samuel ; for when it is permitted to 
evil spirits, or to their leader, they are then able so dexterously 
to represent a person, whatever person they wish, provided that 
person has been seen and known to the man, yea, so cunningly, 
that not even an iota of his voice, nor any thing natural to him, is 
wanting.*'— 5020, 5021. 

" That it was not Samuel is sufficiently clear, because the 
woman of the python did it : also because it is said in v. 13, that 
gods ascended, and v. 14, that he asked whether it was Samuel ; 
these things are so manifest to me, that it was not Samuel, but 
that he was represented by some evil spirit, that nothing is more 
manifest.'* 5022, 5023. 



32 



SUMMING UP AND APPLICATION OF THE EVIDENCE, 
AND CONCLUSIONS DRAWN THEREFROM. 

There are two kinds of open or manifest commun- 
ication with the spiritual world ; — one according to 
Divine Order, thus from the Lord ; and the other 
contrary to Divine Order, thus not from Him. And 
there is one most manifest distinction between these 
two kinds of communication which are spoken of in 
the Word and in the writings of the New Church. 
It is this: those manifestations that were from the 
Lord came unsought, if not entirely unexpected, by 
those to whom they w T ere granted ; while those which 
were contrary to order, and from man's own will, 
were marked by the efforts and acts of that will, — 
were sought by those who had them, through certain 
exertions of their own. 

But notwithstanding all that were from the Lord 
came unsought, yet it does not follow that all those 
which come unsought are from the Lord. Evil 
spirits may in certain cases succeed in so far obtain- 
ing possession of diseased nerves as to make mediums 
of those who have such nerves. Every disordered 
condition of the human body is a plane upon which 
evil spirits can act ; and certain kinds of derange- 
ment of the body, together with some peculiar abnor- 
mal conditions of the mind, will enable them to make 
themselves manifest, without any seeking or apparent 
desire on the part of him through whom they speak, 
or to whom they manifest themselves. 

Although man is so constituted that he can enjoy 



33 

open intercourse with the spiritual world whenever 
it pleases the Lord, and were he in the state in which 
he was originally created, or had he not fallen, this 
intercourse might be no uncommon occurrence, yet 
we are not authorized to expect that even then it 
would be common to all, nor that with those who 
might enjoy it it would be continuous or uninter- 
rupted. Certainly we are not to suppose that any 
orderly communication can be common at present, 
but on the contrary exceedingly rare, on account of 
the danger to the soul with which open intercourse 
with spirits must be attended in every case where 
the man is not in genuine faith. 

Whenever, therefore, there is sensible communi- 
cation with spirits which comes unsought, it is neces- 
sary to follow the direction of the beloved disciple, 
in his epistle to the first Christians, viz., to "try the 
spirits w T hether they be of God." Good spirits will 
rejoice to be thus tried, and will truly and earnestly 
assist in the trial. And they are tried, by carefully 
watching what states of mind they. produce or favor; 
for their words and sentiments may be most artful 
and deceptive, — they may utter thoughts that are not 
their real thoughts, but used merely to conceal their 
real character. They are to be judged by their per- 
manent influence, — whether they awaken and in- 
crease genuine deep humility, — whether they increase 
our love and reverence for the Word, and lift us 
upward towards the Lord, — whether they lead us to 
think often of, to desire constantly and endeavor ear- 
nestly to apply to our life, these words of His, " If any 



84 

man wills to come after me, let him deny himself;" — for 
not a single step is ever taken towards heaven, the 
beginning of which is not some form of self-denial. 
"When Peter said unto the Lord, " Be it far from thee 
Lord, this shall not be unto thee" that is, that it was not 
necessary for Him that He should lay down his life, 
the reply was, " Get thee behind me Satan ; for thou 
savorest not the things that be of God, but those that 
be of men." And in all the progress that is made in 
heaven forever, the first of every step is always an 
act of obedience to some more or less interior mean- 
ing of the precept, " let him deny himself;" for, only 
as they " die unto themselves," do angels " live unto 
the Lord." But if the influence tends to make us 
satisfied with ourselves, and to increase our self- 
esteem, it is from evil spirits. So, too, if it leads us 
to regard our own views, and the views of other 
men, as eminently wise, and worthy to be trusted 
and followed ; lessening our real and practical rever- 
ence for the Word, and neutralizing our feeling of 
obligation to obey its precepts, — if it tends to obscure 
or make dull our perceptions of the vital and eternal 
importance of faithfully examining our lives by the 
rule of the Ten Commandments, — then is that influ- 
ence surely from beneath. 

The evidence above adduced reveals also another 
distinction. In those communications mentioned in 
the Word, which were from the Lord, there was a 
kind of daylight openness; a healthful and genial 
atmosphere around them ; a clearness and certainty 
of revelation ; while that of the woman of Endor 



35 

took place in the obscurity of night, with an uncer- 
tainty of light, so that only the woman herself could 
see who came up. And, instead of fullness, clearness, 
and distinctness of revelation, wizards are said to 
"peep and mutter ;" and the utterances of familiar 
spirits are described in Isaiah, as voices "out of the 
ground" and their speech as " low, and whispering 
out of the dust" 

From the evidence which has been adduced, it is 
most clear that all dealings with familiar spirits, or 
pythons, all efforts to obtain through Ihe senses a 
knowledge of future events, or of the things of the 
spiritual world, now in mercy concealed from the 
gaze of men, — that all attempts to procure open 
intercourse with its inhabitants, — are contrary both to 
the letter and to the spirit of the Word. And from 
the testimony of the New Church, it is apparent why 
it is so, viz: — because such knowledge through the 
senses, and such intercourse, would be most danger- 
ous to all who are not in genuine faith from the Lord, 
so as to be capable of being protected by Him ; that 
is, to all who have not been prepared by regenera- 
tion, — to all who have not arrived at such a state by 
an internal way or process. For the Word is given 
for man's salvation ; its whole spirit and living power 
is drawing man to Heaven ; and therefore every 
thing that endangers and destroys man's spiritual 
life is directly opposed to it. It is most evident from 
the testimony adduced, that the only lawful way to 
seek such intercourse, is that of following the Lord 
in the regeneration, and thus suffering ourselves to 



3S 

be interiorly prepared by Him. All seeking in any 
other way is contrary to Divine order ; contrary to 
all the movements and activities of the one only true 
life that proceeds from the Lord. Genuine orderly 
intercourse will never take place until after due 
preparation of the interiors by the Lord, as man 
performs his part of the covenant, by religiously 
keeping the Commandments that are written on his 
table. (T. C. R., 285.) 

And when open intercourse with the spiritual world 
is given by the Lord, when it takes place according 
to divine order, by a course of interior previous 
preparation, it will come bearing its own evidences 
with it, — in the clear light, and surrounded with the 
genial and healthful atmosphere of the day. There 
will be no midnight chill ; no cold, uncertain light ; 
no mephitic, spiritual vapor from beneath, operating 
upon a sickly frame, or flowing into diseased nerves ; 
no obscure mutterings of things in themselves un- 
meaning and useless, or absurd and blasphemous ; 
no u voice out of the ground;" no " speech whispering 
low out of the dust;" no favoring of concupiscences, 
and gratification of unregenerate will ; no depressing 
of the Lord and exaltation of man ; no surrendering 
of human freedom into the hands of unknown spirits. 
But it will come unsought, — at least by any ex- 
ternal efforts, — if not unexpected ; with living evi- 
dences of the divine permission; surrounded with 
the heavenly influences of the denial of self, of abase- 
ment of the pride of man, and the exaltation of the 
Lord alone* 



37 

There may be those who will here ask, Why are 
these necromantic or pythonic practices ever per- 
mitted ? So may it in the same manner be asked, 
Why is idolatry permitted, which is forbidden in the 
very first of the Ten Commandments ? The answers 
to both are similar. Both idolatry, and pythonism 
or necromancy, are grievous sins to those who re- 
ceive the Word as divine truth : but to those who do 
not believe in the Word they are far less grievous 
sins; while to those who know nothing of the Word, 
these evils may not be sins at all. To the heathen, 
whose idol-worship is enjoined by their religion, this 
worship is actually a means of salvation. Thus it is 
revealed to the New Church, that heathen, who have 
lived according to the teachings of their religion, — 
who have obeyed their religious instructions, and not 
themselves and their own wills, — are saved. Their 
spiritual condition is such, that a religion derived 
from the representative worship of the Ancient 
Church is better adapted to their salvation : and idol- 
atry, which is forbidden by the Word, is yet above 
them ; and thus to them it is a stepping stone up- 
wards toioards the Word and heaven. Yet before 
they reach even their heaven, which is beneath the 
heaven of Christians, — before they can come even 
into the heaven of the heathens, — their idolatry is 
abandoned, and they come into the acknowledgment 
of the one God of heaven and of earth. To such, and 
for the same reason, the Pythonic oracles at Delphi, 
at Dodona, and at the temple of Amraon in Libya, 
were means of good. Now there are multitudes at 



3S 

the present day who have no appreciation of the 
Word. There are many, very many, around us, 
and with us, in whose hearts there appears to be 
scarcely any, if any, acknowledgment of the Word ; 
and in whose understandings there appears to be 
very little, if any, real belief or faith in it ; and con- 
sequently, little or no belief in another world, — in a 
heaven or a hell. The spiritual state of these may 
be such, as that even the demonstrations of python- 
ism or necromancy may be above them, and thus be 
a means, if not of elevating them, yet of restraining, 
and preventing their further descent into the abysses 
of infidelity. So that, although no one who is in pos- 
session of the Word can be said to be entirely with- 
out fault in seeking after familiar spirits, yet such 
seeking is to them comparatively innocent, and may 
to some be even a means by which they may be 
elevated towards a belief in the Word. But, those 
who acknowledge the Lord and His Word can- 
not, without danger to their souls, engage in these 
pythonic practices. " A witch thou shalt not vivify" 
that is, shalt not countenance or encourage, is a pre- 
cept plainly declared to be now in full force in its 
external or natural sense (A. C, 9349) ; and we 
may safely infer that the other similar prohibitions 
are equally so. We cannot innocently and safely 
become connected with these exhibitions, even by 
our voluntary presence, from mere motives of curios- 
ity or entertainment. When the damsel spoken of 
in the Acts of the Apostles (chap, xvi, 16 — IS), who 
was possessed with "a spirit of divination,'"' that is, 



39 

according to the original Greek, " a spirit of python," 
followed Paul and the other apostles, crying out after 
them, " These men are the servants of the Most 
High God, who show unto us the way of salvation ; y ' 
although these words were words of truth, were 
wholly true, yet the apostles neither answered 
her, nor asked a question: they spoke not, nor 
noticed her, until Paul, being grieved at her con- 
dition, commanded the spirit to come out of her. 
The first act, the first notice, on the part of the 
apostles, w T as the casting out of the python. 

We are fully aware that there are those who favor 
these pythonic practices, because by them men may 
be brought to believe in the existence of a spiritual 
world, and thus be led to the New Church ; and who 
bring forward as evidence some few cases of those 
who have had their attention drawn to it through 
these practices. That some good is made to come 
forth from them has already been stated ; and for 
this are they permitted. That some use should be 
made to come forth from them, — that the wrath of 
man should praise Him, and the remainder of wrath^ 
or that which cannot be made to praise Him, should 
be restrained, — that even hell itself should perform 
some uses, that is, some vile yet necessary work 
towards the regeneration of man, — both the Word 
itself, and the doctrines of the church drawn from 
the Word, teach us confidently to expect : yet those 
very doctrines are revealed to keep us out of hell. 
Many have been drawn towards the church, through 
the falsehoods and calumnies uttered by its enemies, 



40 

(perhaps more than have ever been by means of 
pythonism) : yet who would favor or take part in 
such calumnies ? More, to all human appearance, 
have been carried out of the church, and out of all 
Christianity, yea, out of all religion, by this seeking 
of familiar spirits, than have been carried out by any 
calumnies against the church : yet who would join 
in the calumnies ? The Word (Luke, xvi, 27 — 31) 
plainly teaches, that men can never " be persuaded" 
— that no living or real belief, no belief of the heart, 
no belief of any value, can ever be produced, — by 
one rising from the dead. And the doctrines of the 
New Church teach, "that no one can be reformed 
by any other visions than those which are in the 
Word," (D. P., 134) ; and " that no one is reformed 
by visions, and by speaking with the dead, because 
they force," (D. P., 134 : see also 134^, 135). Nor 
from any facts that have come to the knowledge of 
your Committee, are they able to refer to a single 
instance, where pythonism has been of use in any 
other way than that in which good is educed from 
permitted evils. And the reason is manifest; viz., 
that that which is itself essential infidelity, can never 
be the source of true faith. A man is led to the 
church only as he is reformed ; and the church 
teaches that he cannot be reformed in this way. 
Whatever uses evidence to the senses of the exist- 
ence of a spiritual world may perform for those who 
are in faith and the good of faith, it is clear that it 
can never of itself produce faith. For, in the Arcana 
Ccelestia, n. 233, it is said : " To explore the mys- 



41 

teries of faith by scientifics," that is, by things known 
from without, " is as impossible as for a camel to go 
through the eye of a needle." " Hence it is evident 
that they who consult the things of sense and science 
concerning matters of faith, not only precipitate 
themselves into doubt, but also into denial, that is, 
into darkness ; and, in consequence of such darkness, 
into every sort of lust and concupiscence : for, whilst 
they believe what is false, they also do what is false ; 
and whilst they believe that what is spiritual and 
celestial is not given, they believe that what is corpo- 
real and worldly only is given : thus they love what- 
ever is of themselves and the world ; thence from 
falsity are cupidities and evils." It is therefore to 
be expected, that those w r ho seek to obtain faith by 
means of evidence to the senses should be plunged 
into spiritual darkness and infidelity. It is not 
strange, that making the senses the centre of the faith 
should tend to make them also the centre of the 
love ; that the senses which are chiefly relied upon 
and believed in should be also chiefly loved ; that 
necromantic arts should be founded upon sensual 
lusts, and by winding and deceptive ways should 
undermine and lead away from the highest and purest 
love of angels, away from the Church, and out 
through all Christianity, and beyond the boundaries 
of Mohammedanism, and even of heathenism, into 
the unrestrained sensuality of " free-love." 

Your Committee are also fully aware, that there 
are those who regard these manifestations of spirit- 
agency as the imperfect beginnings of an orderly 
4* 



42 

open intercourse with the spiritual world. If this 
were so, still it is most dangerous for those who have 
the Word, but especially for those who are acquaint- 
ed with the doctrines of the New Church, and thus 
have the means of understanding what they are, to 
take any part in them so long as they are of their 
present character. The law, " thou shalt not vivify 
a witch," is now in full force, in its literal sense. 
The influence of these manifestations is evidently not 
towards the Lord and His Church. For they do not 
keep prominent before the mind the necessity of 
denying self (in any true or religious meaning of 
self-denial) ; without which denial, not a single step 
is ever taken towards heaven. They do not make 
prominent, and keep constantly before the mind, the 
Lord's ordinances. They do not make men desire 
to be baptized, and to be prepared for a worthy par- 
ticipation in the Holy Supper. Repentance and 
regeneration are ignored, and " progress" is substi- 
tuted. These manifestations, too, of spirit-agency, 
so far as they are not deceptions of the mediums 
themselves, — deceptions of this world, — are yet evi- 
dently spiritual juggleries, or deceptions of spirits in 
the spiritual world, from their close resemblance to 
the things described by Swedenborg. Whatever 
they may become, therefore, these manifestations are 
to be shunned now. When they shall have become 
entirely changed in quality and character, then will 
be the earliest period in which the members of the 
Church can safely take any part in them. 

But your Committee are unanimously of opinion, 



43 

that these manifestations are not the beginnings of 
orderly intercourse ; that they will not grow gradu- 
ally into heavenly manifestations ; but that they be- 
long to that class of counterfeits and magical imita- 
tions of the good and true things of the Church, 
which are to be expected when that Church is de- 
scending, and against which it is to exercise its utmost 
circumspection, in obedience to the Lord's solemn 
warning in Matt., xxiv, 24 : "For there shall arise false 
Christs and false Prophets, and shall show great signs 
and wonders ; insomuch that, if it were possible, they 
shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you 
before" 

The Committee are also aware, that there may be 
those who feel free to take part in these manifesta- 
tions, from an inward belief that they themselves are 
"in the good of faith," and therefore cannot be 
injured. But it is to be remembered, that a genuine 
faith or belief in the Lord and in His Word never 
can lead any one away from the Lord and the Word ; 
that those who act out this faith, who act from this 
faith, who live this faith, that is, who are in the good 
of faith, will always seek light of the Lord Himself 
through His own divinely appointed means, — through 
preparation by regeneration ; — never by means for- 
bidden in the Word. For, if we are in faith, we shall 
really believe the divine means to be the only true 
and effectual means, and shall not be disposed to 
seek any other. It is the want of faith, the unwilling- 
ness to believe the Lord and His Word, that pro- 
duces the inclination to consult the things of sense 



44 

concerning matters of faith. Those who are in the 
good of faith are constantly looking to the Lord, and 
by it are made to cleave always unto Him; all such 
can therefore always be protected by Him: as they 
seek, so are they enabled to receive, His protecting 
power. They submit all to Him; and He therefore 
can lead them in their freedom. To those of them 
w T ho He sees will be benefited by open intercourse, 
He grants it without their use of magic means ; in- 
deed, without any interference on their part: and as 
they leave all to Him, He protects them against all 
injury from the falsehoods, the jugglery, and witch- 
crafts of spirits. And those of them who He sees 
will not be benefited, He protects from such inter- 
course, and from the arts and seductions of necro- 
mancers and witches in either world, which would 
lead them to desire and to seek it. Both are pro- 
tected by the same power, and from the same cause, 
against all that would vitally injure ; for, " according 
to their faith, so is it unto them." 

There are those, too, who refer to the case of 
Swedenborg himself in justification of the practice 
of seeking information from spirits. We have al- 
ready stated that there are two kinds of open or 
manifest communication with the spiritual world, 
and pointed out some of the marks of distinction 
between them. But w r e will here present the fol- 
lowing statements, that the leading points of differ- 
ence, between the case of Sw T edenborg and that of 
the pythonists of the present day, may be seen dis- 
tinctly and at one view. 



45 

I. That the case of Swedenborg is different from 
that of any other man at any time, — as is manifest from 
his own statements in his Spiritual Diary. He says : 

" This manifestation of the Lord, and the intromission [of me 
as to the spirit] into the spiritual world, is more excellent than all 
miracles. This experience has not been granted to any one, as it 
has been to me, from the creation. The men of the golden age, 
or of the most ancient church, conversed indeed with angels; but 
it was not granted to them to be in any other light than what is 
natural. But it has been granted to me to be both in natural and 
spiritual light at the same time. By this experience I have been 
enabled to see the wonderful things of heaven, to be amongst 
angels as one of themselves, and at the same time to learn truths 
in the light [of truth] itself, and thus to perceive and teach them, 
and in this manner to be led by the Lord." (Spiritual Diary, 
Appendix , page 157.) 

" The things opened or revealed in my writings, are not mira- 
cles ; because every man, as to his spirit, is in the spiritual world, 
without separation from his body in the natural world ; but in my 
case there has been a certain separation \ only, however, as to the 
intellectual part of my mind, and not as to the voluntary part, or 
the will. (Appendix to Spiritual Diary, page 169.) 

II. That his (Swedenborg's) mission was to reveal 
the internal sense of the Word, and to make known 
the heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem, and 
that for this purpose it was necessary that his mind 
should be fully prepared ; that he should be in 
fullness of faith ; that there should be no doubts any 
where, or in any region of his mind. It was neces- 
sary that he should believe in his heart ; that he 
should understand clearly and thoroughly, or ration- 
ally see ; and also that the externals of his mind 
should be fully satisfied with external evidence ; that 
there should be undoubting belief on every plane of 
the mind. His sight, or sensible perception, of the 
spiritual world was incidental and confirmatory ; his 
revelation of the Word the grand or primary thing; 



46 

or his sight of the spiritual world was a necessary- 
incident to his opening the internal sense of the 
Word. 

III. That Swedenborg did never receive anything 
appertaining to the internal sense of the Word, or to 
the doctrines of the New Church, from any angel or 
spirit. (D. P. 135; T. C. R. 779; Preface to 
Apocalypse Revealed.) But modern mediums re- 
ceive wholiy from spirits. 

IV. That the opening of the spiritual senses of 
Swedenborg came unsought^ and unexpected ; but 
the communications of the present day are sought 
by every possible art ; and efforts are made to obtain 
what Divine Order does not grant. 

V. That to Swedenborg the Lord himself ap- 
peared, and sent him forth on his mission of uses in 
that world equally as in this ; and for that purpose 
opened his spiritual senses into a most distinct, com- 
plete, and daylight perception of the things of that 
world ; a perception too, entirely consistent with a 
fully healthful condition of his body, and with the 
full freedom of his soul. But the pythonism of the 
present day is not consistent with a' sound condition 
of either body or mind, nor with a stale of true 
spiritual freedom ; daylight cannot be predicated of 
its manifestations ; neither do pythonists speak in the 
name of the Lord. 

VI. Swedenborg was thus specially commissioned, 
in a way unsought by himself, to communicate to 
men those high, interior, and eternal truths from 
the spiritual sense of the Word, — those things " which 



47 

prophets and kings have desired to see and to hear :" 
whereas, through the modern mediums, nothing of 
any eternal value, but much that is absurd and 
utterly worthless, much of deadly falsity, and much 
of infidel blasphemy, is constantly uttered. 

VII. Through Swedenborg, came revelations of 
the absolute Divinity of the Lord's Humanity; of 
the plenary inspiration and divinity of the Word ; 
and of the necessity of man's living according to the 
precepts of the Word while inwardly looking to the 
Lord ; and all the communications of which he was 
the medium were but branches from these ; teaching 
the denial of self, the laying down of man's natural 
life, that he may be able to receive the life of the 
Word as his life : and all these communications were 
made by him as a man, in the full freedom of man- 
hood ; uttering nothing in trances ; no pythons speak- 
ing through him. But what comes through modern 
mediums, either openly, or secretly and subtilely, 
denies the Lord's Divinity, and that He has " all 
power in heaven and on earth ;" depreciates the 
Word, and undermines its teachings respecting the 
laying down of the natural life, or the resisting of 
the natural inclinations that are opposed to the Word 
because their indulgence is forbidden by the Lord, 
or the careful shunning of evils as sins against Him. 
Its tendency is, to depress the Lord, and to exalt 
man ; making him satisfied with himself ; flattering 
his self-importance, and confirming his unregenerate 
state. 



48 

These statements of difference might be almost 
indefinitely extended ; but there is neither time nor 
room for more. Let it suffice to say, that the more 
closely the case of Svvedenborg is scrutinized, and 
compared with that of the pythonic mediums of the 
present day, the more full and satisfactory, the more 
complete and bright with daylight, will be the man- 
ifestation of their diametrical opposition. It is of no 
consequence that these spirits sometimes tell the 
truth, nor even if they should sometimes be mediums 
of divine truth. For Balaam the soothsayer was 
such a medium ; he spoke some truth ; he was even 
made use of by the Lord to utter divine truth : yet 
he seduced Israel to fornication ; he is named with 
condemnation in the Apocalypse, (chap, n, 14); 
and he was among the Midianites who were slain 
by the express command of the Lord to Moses 
(Num. xxxi, 2, 8). Nor is it of any consequence 
that they sometimes answer in the language of the 
Word ; for the devil did thus, at the temptation of 
the Lord. When they use the Word, it is not from 
good, nor for good ; but for the bringing to pass of 
their own purposes. They use it, only because they 
know it has a power which other words have not. 

From the evidence which has been adduced, then, 
it is plainly not allowable, and also entirely useless, 
for those who receive the doctrines of the New 
Church, to consult modern mediums respecting mat- 
ters of faith. And it is as plainly not allowable, and 
as evidently useless, to go to modern "circles" to 



49 

obtain information. Neither can we safely counte- 
nance them from motives of curiosity, or a love of 
amusement. And there is reason to fear, that it is 
not any more agreeable to divine order, or of any 
more true efficacy, to go for relief from bodily 
disease and pain ; since the very hand through which 
the bodily pains may apparently and temporarily be 
assuaged, may possibly be the medium by which the 
soul is magnetized and filled with a secret infernal 
influence, from which we may never be able to be 
fully delivered. Every time they are visited volun- 
tarily and countenanced, something is given up. 
At the very first step, we lose something of the true 
freedom of humanity ; and at each succeeding step 
we yield ourselves, — the manhood which the Lord 
has given us — more and more into the hands of 
spirits who are entirely unknown, excepting as being 
in connection with the " dogs and sorcerers'' who 
are " without the Holy City." 

To those who have received the doctrines of the 
New Jerusalem, — to all who in truth " are asking the 
way to Zion with their faces thitherward" and who 
desire to " enter in through the gates into the city ," 
and who therefore are represented by the children of 
Israel journeying towards the promised land, — the 
words which Moses spake to them while yet in the 
wilderness are especially and directly applicable : 
11 When thou comest to the land which Jehovah God is 
about to give thee, there shall not be found in thee one 
that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the 
fire, that divineth divinations, and that interrogates the 

5 



fiO 

hell#, or an augurer, or a juggler , or an enchanter, or 
that interrogates a python, or a soothsayer, or that 
enquires of the dead : for an abomination to Jehovah 
is every one that doeth these things ; and on account 
of these abominations Jehovah thy God expels them 
before thee. For these nations which thou shalt pos- 
sess hearkened unto those that interrogate the hells, and 
unto diviners : but as for thee, Jehovah thy God hath 
not suffered thee thus to do. (Deut., xvm, 9 — 14: 
A. C, 9188 : see also note, page 5). 

Respectfully submitted, 

by direction of the Presiding Minister, 
and by order and in behalf 

of the Committee of Ministers, 

WARREN GODDARD. 



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022 204 275 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRES 



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